Exfoliate your face or your dishes....plus a giveaway must-have for every coffee drinker!

     I'm sure I've said it before - I love reusable things. I also love dual/multi purpose things. That is the premise of my own Etsy store. So these hand-knit washcloths immediately caught my eye because they have both of these attributes AND come in gorgeous colors! These washcloths are soft enough to use on your face or delicate china, yet textured enough to clean up messes. No more wasteful paper towels and tissues! The colors in the set I reviewed are SO yummy and appropriately named Neapolitan:

     These washcloths are made by Maria, who sells hand-knit washcloths, coffee cup sleeves, soap savers, and scarves. They come in the prettiest colors too! She describes why she opened her Etsy store, HeritageKnitting:
     "In my family, knitting has been a craft handed down from generation to generation. My grandmother taught my mother during the snowy, Minnesota winters and my mother taught me when I was a hyper teenager with too much time on my hands.

     I discovered Etsy while checking CNN.com at a job I hated. Yes… CNN, the corporate commercial giant led me to Etsy, the headquarters for the hand-made little business movement. I was completely intrigued with the idea that I could work at home doing something I loved. By this time, I had a closet full of well made, hand knitted scarves that I wasn’t doing anything with. In October 2010 I quit my job and opened HeritageKnitting with no startup capital and no idea how to run a home business. It took a couple months of advertising and many late nights researching how to make a living by home crafting before I made my first sale.

     I am still very new to all of this, but I’m loving every second of it. I am very thankful to those who have given me the chance to turn a family craft into a family business. I hope and trust you will love my items as much as I enjoy making them."

     I received the package quickly and appreciated the extra touch in her wrapping and thank you note. It would certainly be appropriate to send an item from Maria's store as a gift to someone:

     I stopped just long enough to snap a few pictures, then tore into the box. My first thought was, "I LOVE these colors!!!" I am a sucker for pink, yes, and the tricolor combination is so sweet. They would make perfect housewarming, baby shower, or birthday gifts for your friends....or yourself :). I examined the washcloths carefully and found each to be very well made. There were no pulls or loose ends. At first, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them, but after some thought decided on the strawberry for me (of course), the vanilla for baby, and the chocolate for the kitchen.
     They are the perfect size - enough surface to clean, yet small enough to handle. Each is 7"x7", made of 100% cotton, and nice and fluffy.

     So, how did they hold up? Quite nicely. I washed and dried them first, as I do with everything new. They kept their shape well, but the knit tightened up a bit (as will all 100% cotton knitted items) causing the squares to shrink about 0.5". This was super easy to remedy, I just gave a little pull to stretch them back out and voila! Good as new.

     I used the strawberry one initially to clean my face, and it exfoliated so well that I decided to take it with me to the shower. My body felt soft and smooth...like buttah....after a scrub (I'll have to keep it from my hubby, who likes to use wash cloths for his showers). I normally like to use a loofas to scrub, but hate that I can't properly wash them. Regular washcloths are too thin, don't exfoliate, and don't suds up well. The loose knit on this wash cloth worked up a great, luxurious lather for me, and when it gets dirty I can just throw it in the washing machine!

     I then used the vanilla wash cloth on baby during her bath. I'm sure she loved the suds and the softness of the knit too. I've also used it damp to wipe her face and hands after meals, which works much better at getting off crusted food than paper towels (which she hates because they're scratchy) or tissues (which fall apart when wet).

     As for the kitchen, the chocolate wash cloth did a great job cleaning dishes. I hate using sponges because they get gross so quickly, and had the same problem of no lather and no scrubbing ability with regular washcloths as I did on my face. This one worked great. It was absorbent, which is great for wiping counter tops, and the loose knit of it was great at scrubbing dishes. 

     I highly recommend these washcloths, and Maria is super sweet to work with. If you want an eco-friendly way to clean your house or yourself, get a set of these. Stop wasting paper!!! They come in a variety of colors and also in a 11"x11" size (perfect as a baby blankie, dish towel....or even to wash your car).

  

Maria is giving away a coffee cup sleeve. Never waste another cardboard sleeve at Starbucks! It saves a little cardboard, insulates your hot drink, and helps you to identify your cup.....plus it's just pretty to look at ;).

How do you enter to win this fabulous coffee cup sleeve? Simple!

~Please leave a comment for each entry~

Mandatory entry:

- Follow my blog

- Visit HeritageKnitting on Etsy and comment in this post about your favorite item for sale

Bonus entries (1 credit each)

- like Annelyn Designs facebook page 

- Post on my fanpage wall Annelyn Designs

- visit Annelyn Designs on Etsy and comment in this post about your favorite item for sale

I will randomly pick a winner and post it on Thursday, March 24th.

Thanks for looking, and good luck!

The cutest headbands for you and baby....and a chance to win one!

     My little girl is 9 months old and was born with a full head of hair. However, as month after month went by, her baby hair fell out and the new growth has taken its own sweet time to come in..... so no hair clips for us yet. I am not one who likes putting bows and flowers the size of my baby's head on her head, so when I came across Natalie's Etsy store, Bella Fleur, her sweet headbands caught my attention. Natalie pairs rosettes and flowers with pearls, rhinestones, and feathers in feminine and chic combinations that would make any mom want to borrow them from her daughter. In fact, I'm wearing one right now :).

     Natalie says, "I am a stay at home mom with a 3yr old boy and a 13 month old baby girl. My little girl is who inspired me to start creating headbands, as I absolutely love dressing her up. I am having so much fun coming up with new designs to compliment any outfit!"

     Bella Fleur is a relatively new store but it's doing extremely well. I'm sure its success is in part due to Natalie's craftsmanship. I am impressed by how well made her headbands are. All raw edges are hidden, and she even covers the spot where the flower is attached to the headband with felt so it won't scratch baby's head. I can attest to the durability of these delicate looking headbands too, since I found my daughter trying to yank a flower off one. Luckily, it was still in perfect condition after the abuse. Below are some pictures before we used them. You can see that they would make great gifts too!

     Natalie's headbands don't just look good, they fit great too. I received these in size 6months-24months. However, both my daughter and I are able to use them. You can see in the pictures they are not loose on her, nor tight on me. She also doesn't protest when I put them on her, so they must be comfortable. They are nice and soft on me too (I suffer from headaches if headbands are too tight). I also use them as hair ties for ponytails and buns. I love that we can both wear them!

 

     These headbands are so pretty, comfortable, and versatile. There are so many stores selling headbands right now that it's hard to know which to buy from. After this review, you should feel more than comfortable purchasing from Bella Fleur. 

You have a chance to win a headband of your choice from Bella Fleur! 

~Please leave a comment for each entry~

Mandatory entry:

- follow my blog 

- Visit Bella Fleur on Etsy and comment here about which item you want to win

Bonus entries (1 credit each)

- Like Bella Fleur on facebook

- Like Annelyn Designs on facebook

- Visit Annelyn Designs on Etsy and comment here about your favorite item for sale 

I will randomly pick a winner and post it on Friday, March 25th.

Thanks for looking, and good luck!

Introducing Deb's Dryer Balls....and a little discount too!

     I met Deb when I was looking for Hyenacart congos to be a guest vendor. What is a congo? What is Hyenacart? Hyenacart.com is a great place to find all sorts of handmade items. A congo is a group of vendors who create a Hyenacart store together. Vendors can also be a guest in congos for a month. I have my own Hyenacart store, "Annelyn Designs" http://hyenacart.com/Annelyndesigns/ and was a guest in Deb's "Amazing Baby Creations" congo http://hyenacart.com/AmazingBabyCreations/.
     I mentioned in a previous post that vendors at craft shows often buy from each other. Well, the same thing happens with vendors on Hyenacart! Deb bought 2 baby carriers from me, and I bought a set of regular sized dryer balls from her store "Absolute Delights" http://hyenacart.com/AbsoluteDelights/. I had been meaning to try out dryer balls, so this worked out perfectly. I loved them so much I decided to post a review of them on here.

     Who is Deb? "I am a mom to nine, my last baby is my inspiration. He was a baby that beat the odds...at every corner. He showed me anything is possible, and showed me that we should always reach for the stars. I opened my store after he was home and healthy....I had been making and selling dryer balls a year prior to opening my store, and did many rounds of testing to ensure i was selling the best I could. I started making the cocoon for my son (He needed a blanket that would stay on; I couldn't find one, so i made one). I found there was a market for cocoons so tested a few rounds and have sold over two dozen in the last five months. My children, my family and myself have fun testing and using each product I make."

     So, what are dryer balls? They are knitted balls of wool used in place of fabric softener. You just throw them into your dryer and they soften your clothes AND shorten the drying time - especially great for large loads that may need multiple dry cycles. I can't stand crunchy clothes, but as an eco-friendly mama, have always felt it was wasteful to use up sheet after sheet of fabric softener. I could also never remember to add the liquid fabric softener into the wash. Plus, I don't feel comfortable using the sheets with my little one's clothes because of all the chemicals (she has very sensitive skin). This seemed like the perfect solution! The dryer balls can also be scented, so your clothes come out snuggly AND smelling great. Deb has a huge list of scents to choose from or you can order them unscented. I love the smell of Snuggle fabric softener, so Deb suggested I get the Clean Cotton scent.
     My package arrived within a few days and my 2 regular size dryer balls came wrapped in a sweet little package. The moment I opened the package the wonderful smell of them took me straight to the laundry isle. Let me explain. My favorite isle in any grocery store is not the makeup isle, not the wine isle, not even the candy isle. It is the laundry isle. Oh sweet bliss, I inhaled and exhaled deeply as if I was standing in the store. Ahhh.

Here are some pictures before I did my tests!

I decided to give the dryer balls a REAL test. I had a huge load of pants and jeans. Normally, I'd have to run the dryer twice to get the jeans totally dry. I hate wet pockets! To my amazement, after one run through the dryer, all of the pants were dry, and they smelled great! I used these on about 5 loads of laundry this weekend (that sounds like a lot of laundry doesn't it...but I only wash on the weekends). The dryer balls are holding up great and still giving off that clean, fresh smell. You can throw them in the washing machine when they get "dirty" and then add a few drops of any essential oil to change the scent.

After 5 uses....still look new to me!

                              

I highly recommend Deb's dryer balls. It's a money saver, planet saver (every little bit counts, right?), and time saver. They are very affordable too!

2 small balls, 8 inches pre-felted for $6.00

2 regular balls, 10 inches pre-felted for $8.00 

2 large balls, 12 inches pre-felted for $10.00

scent, $0.50 each (over 18 to choose from)

or 

Sample Pack for $22

2 small balls, 8 inches pre-felted 

2 regular balls, 10 inches pre-felted  

2 large balls, 12 inches pre-felted 

scent, free!

Other available colors:

* Now get 10% off these dryer balls with discount code "10"!!! * 

All I ask in return is that you follow my blog, like my Facebook fanpage, and leave a comment in this post!